Don't Forget My Name
by MakoRain
Summary: Incidents that happened before Tseng and Elena go down into the Northern Cave will prove helpful or hurtful to the pair. My very first time pairing these Turks together in an official story.


A/N: This is my first official Tseng and Elena story **–**cheers**- **I know that I have hinted at this pairing in various Cloti fics that I have written but this time it's all about the Turks. Based on the wonderful additional scenes provided in FFVII AC Complete (if you haven't seen it, you reaalllyy should). Please let me know how I did with this pair with a little R&R :)

Music pairing: Bittersweet by Ellie Goulding.

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"**Don't Forget My Name"**

By MakoRain

The Northern Cave was colder than expected, covered in a mass of powdery white snow. Elena shivered, wrapping her arms around her as she navigated the path that Tseng was taking through the jagged rocks. They slowly descended into the heart of the cave, the rock walls cool to the touch as she walked behind him slowly, not wanting to get too close after last time.

"_Boss, are you doing okay?" Elena asked shyly, not wanting to bother the director at such an unfortunate time. _

_For surely drinking alone in the local watering hole of your former enemy is a lowly time, indeed. At that thought she gave a nod to Tifa who smiled back, busily washing glasses behind the counter of her beloved bar, Seventh Heaven. Elena stood just to the side of Tseng, not sure what the appropriate closeness would be in this situation. Her knees were shaking but she tried her best to hide it, wanting to be strong for him._

_He looked at her with sad swimming eyes, the alcohol making them seem a little unfocused before they landed right on her, the dark orbs piercing her through. She blinked back her surprise at the intensity of his gaze as he looked away and motioned to the empty bar stool next to him for her to sit. _

"_Elena."_

"_Thank you, sir."_

_There was an awkward moment of silence before he sighed. "Elena, I'm not your boss off the clock. Call me Tseng."_

"_Of course, Director Tseng."_

_He closed his eyes, his hand massaging the bridge of his nose. She tried not to fidget at how nervous he was making her._

"_Sorry, si-Tseng."_

"_Thank you, Elena." He gave her a small smile and she almost fell off the bar stool. It seemed like now would be a good time for a drink._

"_Would you like a drink?"_

_He was a mind reader! Elena turned down her beaming smile to something more appropriate. This was her boss after all. Even though he said he wasn't his boss when they weren't working. It sadly seemed like Turks were always working, though. _

_Stifling a sigh at that thought, she turned back to Tseng. "A gin and tonic, please."_

_His eyebrows rose at her drink request as he flagged Tifa down and placed the order. _

"_Seems like a strong drink for a little lady."_

_She coughed at the sudden insult. "Excuse me?" _

"_I mean, for a lady of your stature."_

_Now she was just confused. "I'm not sure what you mean, sir."_

_There was that damned sir again but she couldn't help it, he was making fun of her, she just knew it. She was too young for him. He was practically throwing it in her face._

_Tseng blinked at her a few times as if not sure what caused her reaction but then it seemed to sink into his whisky infused brain. "Oh! Elena, I meant no disrespect. I just meant that's a lot of alcohol for a woman your size."_

_He coughed as if uncomfortable for bringing it up. "You're very petite."_

_Elena felt her slightly stunned reaction begin to melt into a small smile. He thought she was dainty. Womanly. Femine. Now all she had to do was not blush like a school girl and prove him wrong. For surely women don't get crushes on their bosses, only girls do that._

"_Yes, I suppose so." What could she really say to that without sounding like a fool? Elena took a quick sip of the drink Tifa placed in front of her, trying to cool down her heated skin and distract her from the way he made her feel. _

_Tseng rested his chin on his hand, looking at her sitting next to him. Really looking at her, as if trying to fight through the haze of his earlier drinking stooper. He smiled and she felt it heat all the way down to her belly._

"_You're pretty when you smile."_

_She smiled wider than thought better of it, fiddling with her drink in her hands instead. He was drinking here alone on a weeknight and instead of thinking of his needs, she kept thinking of her own needs and how he could fulfill them for her. Elena shook her head, chiding herself. She was so stupid._

"_Is something wrong, Elena?" _

_Tseng looked at her with concern. For her. Ugh she had it worse than she thought if just a simple look from the man had her questioning her morals. He was her boss for crying out loud! Shaking her head disapprovingly, she deflected his question. _

"_Is something wrong, Tseng?"_

"_Can't hide anything from you, huh?" He chuckled, bringing his glass to his lips and draining the last of its contents. Tifa walked over subtly asking if he would like another but instead he closed his tab._

_Elena had been sipping her own drink the entire time but seeing this, she downed the last of it. Her body was already overheating but if she kept up with this line of innocent conversation, she was going to need the extra liquid courage. _

_It was a good thing neither of them had driven there. Elena felt a steady comfort build between them as they walked back to the Shinra apartments, making it so the Turks were only a call away for whenever the president needed them. _

_Thankfully neither of them had been on call that night as Tseng pointed out. Maybe that was why he had been enjoying a quiet drink or two alone before she had shown up at Seventh Heaven. Maybe she had interrupted something. He did seem awfully deep in thought before she had sat down. Chastising herself, she put some needed distance between them as they waited for the elevator to take them up to their respective floors._

"_You're doing an awful lot of that tonight, you know."_

"_What do you mean?"_

"_Shaking your head like that."_

"_Oh." She mentally kicked herself, now knowing that the internal dialogue running inside her head made her look like a nodding idiot._

"_It's cute."_

_Wait, was he flirting with her again? _

_Elena looked up as he smoothed down his tie, loosening it at the collar. He looked at the walls enclosing them, the carpet they stood on, their reflection in the metal doors; everywhere but at her. She could feel her cheeks burning and quickly looked away, flushed with embarrassment and something else that made her weak in the knees and lean against the wall. _

_Tseng was at her side in an instant. "Elena?" _

_Maybe he thought she had drunk too much and was swaying on her feet. Or maybe that she was too warm and felt faint. Or maybe he wanted her as much as she wanted him._

_That last drink must have overpowered her senses because in that instant she wanted to find out more than anything what their flirting would lead to. And so she took advantage of his chivalry, of his steadying hand on her arm, of his nearness, of his black hair pulled back in his standard ponytail making it so easy to place her hand against his cheek and kiss him, her lips meeting his almost eagerly. And he kissed her back, almost just as eagerly as he pushed her against the wall of the elevator, his hands in her hair, down her back, along her hips, holding her ass. _

_Only the ding of the elevator door reaching his floor pulled them apart in a fluster of heavy breathing and rumpled clothes. She could hear her panting fill up the space and tried her best to control it as the doors slid open and he looked between her and the hallway beyond their heated world, his mistake and his escape. For surely this was a mistake to him even if it was her wildest fantasy come true. She should have said as much and saved him the embarrassment of his get away but she couldn't breathe let alone speak. _

_Those few seconds held suspended in air until she thought she'd expire in anticipation. What was he thinking? What was he feeling? Just as the doors tried to slide to a close and separate them, he grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out into the hallway. She stumbled behind him before running into his form standing in front of his door. He was breathing heavily, his head resting on the closed apartment door._

"_Tseng?"_

_As if making a final decision, he turned to her in a flash and kissed her soundly, his hands framing her face and holding her up as her legs finally gave out and they leaned against the wood. There was no more time for thinking or questioning or doubting, only want and need and passion as he carried her to the bed and ravished her, doing the most wonderful unspeakable things imaginable. Elena's body hummed as if she was an instrument only he could tune and play and master to perfection. The room echoed with his name on her lips and settled in a rustle of sheets and sighs as they finally drifted off to sleep. _

_The morning light peaked meekly through the blinds as if knowing not to disturb but still causing Tseng to stir and Elena to adjust to his movement. She opened her eyes, looking around the room for a moment. The clock on the nightstand flashed roughly six in the morning. So it wasn't a dream. Elena had plenty of dreams about this moment and they all failed in comparison to the real thing. She couldn't hold back her sigh of happiness or the smile that she felt splitting her face._

_Elena looked at the form lying beside her. His jet black hair spilled against the pillow, a demure spot of sunlight on his cheek. His arms tightened around her and she eased back down in bliss, resting her cheek against his chest. She moved with his breathing and Tseng breathed her in, his face leaning down to nuzzle into her hair. _

"_Aerith." He sighed then shifted again and she slid off of his chest to lie beside him._

_She had to have heard him wrong. Tseng didn't just say the flower girl's name. He couldn't have. He had slept with _her_ last night, not the fallen Ancient. Unless…_

_Elena laid there in stunned silence, blinking back tears. He had never said her name last night in their moments of passion. Not even once. And now he sighed Aerith's name? Oh she was a fool, calling out his name over and over when he was thinking of having sex with Aerith instead of her! Her entire body stiffened and shifted away from him. As if he could sense this, Tseng chose that moment to flutter his eyes, clearing them of sleep._

"_Elena?" _

_He was looking at her in that super intense way again but instead of making her heart beat like a drum it made her cringe. That look had never been meant for her but someone else entirely. His hand on her cheek felt like a lie and she couldn't help pulling away from his touch. It felt tainted, wrong, stolen._

_Seeming to wake up with a clearer mind, Tseng looked away and kept the awkward moment hanging there. The silence was suffocating. She could see him trying to work up the nerve to let her down easy. She wanted to make it easier for him and beat him to it but she just couldn't. Elena wanted more than anything for last night to be real. Maybe she could keep fooling herself that it was._

"_Maybe we should forget this ever happened."_

_Or maybe not. In reply she simply nodded her head, keeping her eyes low so he wouldn't see them fill with tears as he made his quick escape to the bathroom. The shower spray was loud enough to hide the sudden sob before she could muffle it with her mouth, dressing in a flurry before doing the walk of shame. _

At least no one had been in the halls when she had left that fated night. In hindsight, it was their mutual intoxication that she had taken advantage of, of his sadness and her loneliness and her maddening crush that she had developed for months over him.

Elena was so caught up in the memory brought on by looking at his backside that she tripped over a rock and slid a few more feet than intended.

"Elena?" Tseng looked back at her, the distance much larger than before and she sighed.

"I'm okay, sir."

"Pay attention."

Nope, she didn't get the soft side of Tseng anymore. At first she did the best to avoid him because in her case, you always want what you're running from. He had done the same until it started to seem silly. He _was_ her boss after all. She was bound to see him more than her teammates Reno and Rude. He must have realized it too since he started popping up more and more wherever she was which was mostly with her team so that was to be expected. What was unexpected was when he asked her to join him on the mission to the Northern Cave to retrieve Jenova's head.

"Me, Sir?" She had asked, caught off guard.

"Yes you, Elena."

"But surely Rude or Reno would be better suited…"

She had tried to fight her fidgeting but had lost as her hands laced together behind her back to stop from shaking. In guilt? Humilation? Disappointment? Most likely all three and then some swirling emotions she couldn't begin to fathom with him standing right there in front of him.

"Are you questioning my judgment?"

"No! Of course not-"

"Besides, Reno will be manning the chopper with Rude as back up."

"Oh, I see." Elena's argument had petered out at that point, accepting her fated mission to be his partner in this. Besides, she could always depend on him and it was nothing if not her duty to do the same for him. She would do the best to help and be by his side, as he apparently wanted it to be.

And so here she was, trying her best not to eye her boss up and down as they walked along traitorous terrain into possible unknown danger. No one had been down to the Northern Cave since Cloud defeated Sephiorth. It was a spooky place with a mystical feeling that got stronger the closer they got to the cavern floor. Elena fought the urge to huddle up to Tseng. She was a Turk after all; they were always used to untold danger and constantly on high alert. That's probably why she screamed like a little girl when Tseng placed his hand at the small of her back as if to lead the way.

"Shhh!"

"But-"

He muffled her question with a hand clamped over her mouth. She struggled for an instant before she realized it was childish and he wouldn't have let go of her anyways. Elena fought the urge to lick his hand to release her when she saw what had caught his attention and he eased his hand away for her to observe with him.

Tseng followed her lead this time as she peered into the darkness of the cave, his flashlight revealing inches of the dark at a time.

"Look at this." She kneeled in her black uniform pants, trying to get a closer look at the lump on the ground.

"Mmhmm. Pay dirt."

Slipping on a pair of rubber gloves, he leaned down next to her in observation. "Not a pretty sight, is it?" She asked, their heads close together viewing the bounty. This was what everybody was after? It was nothing like she had ever seen, besides in the original mission files.

"Who cares? Just get the damn thing!" Reno's voice broke the moment of awe Tseng and Elena were sharing over Jenova's head. She stood up, a bit miffed at the interruption.

"Reno. The chopper." Tseng barked out the order and like the lap dog he was, Reno obeyed.

"You got it."

Tseng was a bit short with Reno; maybe the red head was getting to him, too. Elena looked around the rest of the cave with what light they had to cut through the shadows when she swore she saw something move.

"Tseng." She whispered, not wanting to startle whatever she thought she saw move. Her luck it would be a wild animal looking for a snack. Whatever it was, she didn't want it to get the jump on her. She could hear the director behind her, slowly scanning the area with the handheld light.

A burst of sound and a flash from the gun's muzzle had her face down on the cold ground, her instincts and Tseng's body on top of hers protecting her. But that left Tseng defenseless and she wiggled out from beneath him, pulling out her gun. They needed to find cover and fast because they were just sitting ducks for whoever was shooting at them with the advantage of how dark the cave was.

"Reno!"

The sound of helicopter blades was distracting her and hopefully disorienting the unknown people that still shot at her, not as blind as she had thought as she looked down and saw the bullet wound bleeding from the arm that Tseng was holding to his chest, gritting his teeth in pain.

Elena looked around frantically, trying to find a place to hide but everything was too open besides what was hidden in shadow. And then the shadows started to move and dissipate, as if forming and molding into human form.

No, that couldn't be right. But it was happening before her very eyes and she had to get them all the hell out of there.

"Reno!" She waved her hands to signal them to run away until a searing pain in her arm made her stop. Elena fell to her knees beside Tseng, clutching her arm. It had to be just a graze, they couldn't both be injured badly or they'd never make it out of this damned cave alive.

"Elena!"

Tseng called her name. He said her name and suddenly her focus was razor sharp on that fact. It was so simple, so sweet, her name on his lips. It was nothing to be doing back flips over but Elena felt the pain in her arm ease. Tseng had said her name, not Aerith's. In his time of need, he called out for her. And that gave her the strength to get her ass in gear.

She shot out blindly into the dark, trying her best to evade the onslaught of bullets coming at the both of them. "Get out of here!" she yelled to Reno and with an angry 'damn it' he did the smart thing and got the hell out of there.

Reno and Rude were safe. That was good. Now it was their turn.

That flicker of hope was blown out as the three figures immerged from the smoke. It seemed to cling to their forms and take shape around them, clothing them. What the hell were they? Her determination was replaced with panic and fear as Elena crawled to Tseng who had eased himself off the ground to sit against a boulder. Avoiding each other's injured arms, she clung to him, trying so hard to not let the fear that these three implanted in her claim her.

"Tseng, I don't know what to do."

"Shhh, it's okay." He held her hand and did his best to calm her down. His arms were steady around her and somehow she managed to stop shaking.

What mattered was that Reno and Rude had escaped with Jenova's head, mission complete. All they had to do was survive. Tseng's strength would keep her sane and she would always be there for him, partners to the end. No matter what was in store for them; they would survive.

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A/N: And we all know how this ends thanks to the masterpiece known as FFVII AC Complete. I loved this additional scene and couldn't help imagining what else could be going on.


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